Measurements: 6-5, 203 pounds, 6-7¼ wingspan, 8-0½ reach, 37½ vertical
Season stats: 33.2 mpg, 15.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.o spg, 0 bpg, 2.3 tpg, 43%/37%/66% (FG/3P/FT)
Positives
-Confident, aggressive scorer-Deep shooting range on his jumper
-Good shooter off the dribble
-Very good ball handler
-Nasty crossover
-Excellent penetrater
-Good finisher at the rim
-Nice in-between game
-Wants to take the big shots
-Supreme confidence
-Great bloodlines
Negatives
-Tested well, but doesn't show elite athleticism
-Tunnel vision, can be selfish
-Rarely goes left
-Occasional poor shot selection
-Not very efficient
-Doesn't work well off the ball
-Inexplicably below average free throw shooter
-Doesn't contribute much beyond scoring
-Doesn't show much effort on the defensive end
-Gambles a lot
Summary
It's easy to watch Austin Rivers highlights and think you're watching a top 5 pick, but the more you analyze his complete game the more concern there are. Can he score? Yes, but so far it hasn't been very efficiently and he doesn't contribute much in any other way. Consider this, Rivers played 1129 minutes last season and blocked 1 shot and collected 33 steals, whereas the player he's jockeying with for the second shooting guard spot, Dion Waiters, played 891 minutes (238 less than Rivers) but he blocked 12 shots and had 67 steals. That is indicative of the lack of effort and energy Rivers brings to defense, which is part of the problem with Rivers: when it's not him with the ball trying to score, he's not all that into it. Still, his scoring ability is enough to get him drafted in the lottery, though top 10 is a little much for me.
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